PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

She always manifested first for her life was the cause. Mist rose under the Brooklyn Bridge that May 30th as the twelve appeared. The people who were present either were unable to perceive them through a lack of faith or chose to ignore what they considered the impossible.

After all this time, those few who could see them but didn’t know what they were thought them to be performers in some macabre cosplay. When they tried to approach any of them, they wavered and vanished. The ghosts of the bridge’s tragic past were sentinels and did not speak cautionary tales.

It’s Wednesday and time again to participate in Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ 25 April 2025 edition of Friday Fictioneers. The idea is to use the image above as the prompt for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.

Once I discovered Roger’s photo on Instagram and saw it was of the Brooklyn Bridge, I started looking for disasters and tragedies associated with it (the bridge, not his photo). Here’s what I found thanks to Google’s AI Overview:

The Brooklyn Bridge, a marvel of engineering, was completed and opened to the public in 1883. However, the excitement of the opening was marred by a tragic event known as the Brooklyn Bridge stampede.

On May 30, 1883, a large crowd was enjoying the bridge, particularly on Memorial Day which was always observed on May 30 at that time. As the crowd was traversing the Manhattan approach stairs, a woman tripped and fell, which triggered a panicked reaction within the dense crowd. The sudden surge of panic caused people to fall and get crushed, resulting in a horrific scene.

The stampede resulted in the death of 12 people and caused serious injuries to 36 others. The Brooklyn Bridge Company was eventually acquitted of negligence in lawsuits stemming from the incident. The event became a cautionary tale about crowd control and safety in public spaces, and it highlights the tragic consequences that can arise when panic spreads through a large group.

Of course, I wrote a ghost story.

To read other tales associated with the prompt, visit inlinkz.

Cover art for my book “Our Legacy, The Stars: A Tom Corbett Adventure.”

My book Our Legacy, The Stars: A Tom Corbett Adventure has gotten four and five star reviews Amazon and a five star review on goodreads.

Based on the 1950s television show Tom Corbett Space Cadet, the book is updated in terms of our modern understanding of science as well as more nuanced characterizations and plot.

The Literary Post says:

“Pyles takes us back to a simpler time in science fiction, complete with all of the warm nostalgic fuzzies that go along with it.”

Order your copy of my book Our Legacy, The Stars: A Tom Corbett Adventure and let the fun begin.